State of Oregon, Washington Players of the Year Headline UO Soccer Recruits
EUGENE, Ore. ? The player of the year from the states of Oregon and Washington are among nine student-athletes who signed national letters of intent with Oregon, head coach Tara Erickson announced Thursday.
"Overall, our first class is very well-rounded," said Erickson. "Some of these players are going to step in and play immediately, and raise the level of talent on our team.
"It’s a hard-working class," Erickson continued. "The thing I think I’m most excited about is that these nine players all come from strong soccer backgrounds which should to raise our understanding of the game immediately and enable us to play at a higher level."
Erickson stayed close to home to sign Eugene’s Rianna Mansfield, the 2005 Oregon 4A player of the year. She scored 14 goals with eight assists as a senior at South Eugene High as her team advanced to the state title game. Mansfield, a midfielder, was also a first team all-state selection and MVP of the Midwestern League. She is a member of the FC Willamette club team.
The Ducks also stayed in state for Megan Watson, a combo forward/midfielder from Lake Oswego, Ore., She led Lake Oswego High School to two consecutive Three Rivers League titles and was the conference’s player of the year in 2005. Watson also plays for the Lake Oswego Soccer Club.
"We’re excited to get best players from the State of Oregon, which will help us continue to get those players in the future," said Erickson. "And hopefully the ties we’ve established with club teams in Washington, California and Arizona will keep those recruiting areas open to us in future years."
The Ducks went north to land Washington’s 2005 state player of the year in midfielder Danielle Oster from Mill Creek. She led Henry M. Jackson High School to the 2005 state 4A semifinals and was named player of the year by both the Seattle P-I and the Everett Herald. Oster plays for Northwest National Shamrocks’ club team and was also a member of the 2004 Washington Olympic Development Program (ODP) national championship team.
Soccer Buzz recognized Barbara Blocker, a defender, as a 2006 Top-100 Recruit on its web site. The Sacramento, Calif., native led St. Francis High School to three consecutive sectional championships. Blocker’s club team, the Pleasanton Rage, was a semifinalist at the 2004 US Club Soccer National Cup. Her grandfather, Thomas Payne, was an All-American in football at Santa Clara under Len Casanova, who would later go on to become Oregon’s legendary football coach.
A second Washingtonian, Teresa Bowns, will be joining Oregon this fall. Bowns, from Redmond, Wash., was the MVP of the KingCo league her senior year at Redmond High School. The midfielder was also and all-state selection. Bowns plays club soccer for the Marauders.
The Ducks went south to round out their recruiting class, nabbing Melissa Buich, Natalie Farah and Danielle Sweeney from California and Emily Zaler from Arizona.
Buich, from Alamo, Calif., helped lead Monte Vista High School to the 2003 and 2005 North Coast Section championships. She was named to the 2005 NSCAA Adidas all-region team. The forward also plays for the Mustang Roadrunners and helped that team to the 2005 club state cup finals.
Farah, a defender/midfielder who is currently in season at Saint Joseph High School, was the Sierra League’s MVP and defensive player of the year as a junior. The Cerritos, Calif, native also plays for the nationally recognized club team Slammers Newport Beach.
Sweeney, who is a teammate of Blocker’s on the Pleasanton Rage club squad, led Foothill High School to the 2004 North Coast Section championship. The midfielder, from Pleasanton, Calif., was a three-time all-league selection as a midfielder.
The final signee is Zaler, a goalkeeper from Scottsdale, Ariz., Zaler set an Arizona state record with 17 shutouts in 2004 and led Pinnacle High School to back-to-back state title games. Her club team, Sereno 88 White, has won six consecutive Arizona state championships and was a national finalist in 2003.
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